This copy is for your personal non-commercial use only. To order presentation-ready copies of Toronto Star content for distribution to colleagues, clients or customers, or inquire about permissions/licensing, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com

Raptors outmanned by Dallas

The margin for error for the Raptors is slight on any night they play; when they play with a depleted roster it is even smaller and shooting less than 40 per cent from the field really makes it non-existent.

DALLAS — The margin for error for the Raptors is slight on any night they play. When they play with a depleted roster it is even smaller and shooting less than 40 per cent from the field really makes it non-existent.

It made the result here tonight oh, so predictable.

With Shawn Marion out for half a game with the flu, and facing a more talented team that was rested and playing at home, Toronto fell 109-98 to the Dallas Mavericks, making the Raptors 0-for-2 on this current road trip. Misfiring to the tune of 37 per cent inefficiency from the floor, the Raptors were just 3-for-14 from three-point range.

Marion, who missed practice here Saturday and this morning's shootaround with "flu-like symptoms" lasted only six minutes before retiring for the evening.

Obviously feeling the effects of his illness, the Raptors tried to get him back for the second half by giving him intravenous fluids while he was in the locker room for most of the second quarter but he couldn't get the energy to play.

Article Continued Below

Joey Graham, who had missed 2 1-2 games with a strained hamstring, did get back into uniform and was Toronto's most energetic player. He finished with 14 points and seven rebounds but it was hardly enough.

The Mavs broke the game open with a 30-point third quarter, giving them a 90-75 lead entering the fourth that made the final 12 minutes unremarkable. Toronto never got within 10 with any late push as the Mavs coasted. Dirk Nowitzki had 24 points to lead Dallas while Chris Bosh, playing in front of his hometown crowd, had 28 points and 10 rebounds.

The return of Graham, who'd missed 2 1-2 games with a strained hamstring, and the short presence of Shawn Marion, who missed practice Saturday and this morning's shootaround with the flu, gave Toronto its full complement of players — such that it is.

With only 13 on the roster to begin with, Nate Jawai in the minors and Kris Humphries still out with a broken leg, the options for coach Jay Triano are limited.

"It's tough when you don't have the bodies to give these guys a rest and I think that was part of our problem in Phoenix," Triano said before the game. "Playing the style we're playing, guys get fatigued a little bit. But there's no excuse, some teams play seven, eight guys deep in a rotation, we're forced to do that and we have to play through it."

The Raptors were greeted by more than 150 screaming Chris Bosh fans as the Dallas native made his lone regular season appearance in his hometown.

"It's something to anticipate, yeah," said Bosh. "My friends and family get really excited, I get calls just as soon as the schedule comes out, 'y'all are playing in Dallas this day.' I'm like, 'yeah, I know.'

"My dad buys the tickets as soon as they come on sale, it's fun because I know a lot of people are going to be there, it's always home and I want to do well."

Having a large contingent supporting him isn't anything new to Bosh. Even when he was starring as a high schooler at Lincoln High here, leading the team to a 40-0 record and a state championship as a senior.

"That's how I grew up, with friends and family representing where you come from, that's apart of my mature and to have that again is kind of nostalgic in the sense of where you came from," he said. "Playing basketball in Little Leagues and stuff, your mom and your family (wearing) No. 4 or whatever number you were. People represent hard where I come from."

Bosh gave them something to be proud of right off the bat as his 16-point first half kept the defensively-challenged Raptors in the game.

Effectively going at both Dirk Nowitzki and Erick Dampier, on the odd occasion he switched over to guard Bosh, the Raptor power forward made six of his 12 first-half field goal attempts and also got to the foul line five times.

With no one else really producing early for Toronto — Joey Graham had 10 first half points but was limited because he got three fouls — the Raptors were almost blown out of the gym early.

Dallas led by as many as 10 and were led by Antoine Wright, who had 14 first-half points.

Nowitzki was strangely uninvolved in the offence early, taking just seven first half shots and scoring 10 points. But Dallas got a boost from the return of Terry, who looked a bit rusty but hit a key three-pointer as part of his five-point return.

Delivered dailyThe Morning Headlines Newsletter

The Toronto Star and thestar.com, each property of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, One Yonge Street, 4th Floor, Toronto, ON, M5E 1E6. You can unsubscribe at any time. Please contact us or see our privacy policy for more information.

More from the Toronto Star & Partners

LOADING

Copyright owned or licensed by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or distribution of this content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Toronto Star Newspapers Limited and/or its licensors. To order copies of Toronto Star articles, please go to: www.TorontoStarReprints.com